


Covered

by PoemAboutCitylights



Series: Cute boyfriends being cute [10]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Face Masks, M/M, Oblivious!Lando, Tuscan GP, idiot boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26477107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoemAboutCitylights/pseuds/PoemAboutCitylights
Summary: The Red Bull mask belongs to Max.The leoprint mask to Dan.Right?
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen
Series: Cute boyfriends being cute [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/786180
Comments: 3
Kudos: 114





	Covered

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Landoaitken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Landoaitken/gifts).



It wasn’t the result Daniel had hoped to achieve and finishing fourth always stung, no matter the circumstances. He had to admit that this one had been particularly bitter, though, for he had been so close to finally getting to choose that goddamn tattoo.  
And he had a good one in mind. _Oh boy_.  
But this was racing and racing didn’t care about his plans, nor did a race care about his feelings, so he had to get a grip and deal with it. Today was not the day to doubt himself and he knew that, in a better car, he would have had the capability to be up on that podium. He knew that he still had it in him.

His sour mood was washed away a little bit when he crossed paths with Max in between their motorhomes, though. For each bad race Dan had, Max seemed to have it worse. The Dutchman had put on big headphones and despite the weather, he had pulled the hood of his jacket down into his face, having long changed out of his racing suit after his DNF.  
The Red Bull mask and the sunglasses he was wearing did the rest to almost hide away his face completely, but the Aussie knew the other man well enough to know _exactly_ what Max was hiding away behind the fabric.  
He had sympathy, sure, but it also made him chuckle for a reason he couldn’t put a finger on, watching Max trotting through the paddock like a child that had been denied its favourite candy.

“Max!” he yelled over from the entrance of the Renault motorhome, his voice somewhat muffled by his own leo-printed face mask.  
The Dutchman jumped at his name and turned around with tense shoulders, not bothering to lift his sunglasses or move at all. Dan rolled his eyes at the younger one and pulled down his mask for a second, to flash a grin into the Red Bull driver’s direction.  
Max’s face was still hidden away but Daniel could see it _still_ , the growl, the burning glare in his eyes. The annoyed frown that had surely appeared on Max’s forehead, which Dan wanted to kiss away with a smirk.

With Max, it was hard to know how far he could push it from time to time, but his words had left his mouth before the Aussie would have been able to stop them.  
“Excellent race, mate!”  
This time, Daniel couldn’t just imagine Max’s growl but could actually _hear_ it from where he was standing several meters away.  
With a grin playing on his lips, the older one watched how Max’s head turned around, probably having a quick look around, before he crossed the distance between them with a few long strolls.  
When the Dutchman reached out and held open the door of Dan’s motorhome, it was neither polite nor was it patient, but Dan had to suppress an amused laugh still, when Max groaned, “ _Get in there_.”

Lando was standing behind the fence that now separated them from the press by several meters, to give some post-race interviews. It wasn’t like he had much interesting to say after today’s race, but it was part of the job and he didn’t mind it much. It had gotten a bit crowded, so he had to wait a few moments until Lewis would have finished his interview with a German broadcasting company. He took the time to stare off into the distance and think of the pizza the team had promised Carlos and him, although he wasn’t sure if pizza-mood was still on after what had happened during the race. A pity.  
The Brit almost jumped when someone suddenly poked his arm and he was about to turn around in protest, when his eyes met George, who had been the one poking.  
“Man!” George mumbled, disbelievingly, and Lando frowned at the Williams driver who had had such a good chance to get into the points today.  
“What?” Lando mumbled voicelessly, before he realized that George couldn’t read his lips, of course, given that all of them were wearing the masks of their teams.  
“What?” he therefore repeated somewhat louder and George tilted his head in a way that carefully let him know that something was happening behind Lando’s back.  
“Don’t look!” George said lowly, but Lando’s head was snapping already, trying to find whatever it was that had caused the other Brit’s jaw to drop.  
His eyes roamed over the rest of the drivers, most of them giving interviews at the time, some of them standing around and waiting for their turn. The lucky ones of them were leaving already, escaping from the interview area through a gate.  
“What is there?” Lando asked in confusion, still searching the place with his eyes. He then locked eyes with Charles, who was standing at the other end of the area and looked about as dumb-struck as George. Lando tried to communicate with the Monegasque with his eyes alone, and like George before, the Ferrari discretely tilted his head into the direction of the gate.  
So Lando looked again and blinked.  
Once, twice and eventually a third time, while his brain tried to process what he was seeing.  
Coming in to the interviewing area were Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, the former still in his racing gear, the latter in street clothing. They were entering the area with the demanded distance between them and Lando was about to ask George what it was that he was apparently freaking out over on the inside, when his eyes dropped to the masks Daniel and Max were wearing.  
Dan’s mouth and nose covered in a Red Bull mask.  
Max’s face by a leo-print.  
  


Lando’s jaw dropped.  
He wanted to look away but he couldn’t stop staring, like he was looking at a particularly dramatic racing accident. The leo-print looked ridiculous on Max’s stern face and Lando’s brain was still processing what was happening, while George next to him was nudging his arm once again.  
“Someone has to tell them! We have to stop them!”  
“What?” Lando asked, turning towards the other Brit.  
“We can’t let them do interviews like this!” George was speaking so fast that he was almost stumbling over his own words and all Lando could do was frown at the other driver.  
“So they mistook their masks. So what?”

George looked at him like he was out of his mind, at least from what he could see of the older one’s face.  
“Lando, do you know what this _means_?”  
“What the fuck is this supposed to mean?”

The both of them turned around when laughter was suddenly coming from behind them, finding none other but Lewis Hamilton almost bending over in laughter.  
“They didn’t actually do this,” Lewis’ voice was shaken by amusement and Lando wondered what it was that he was missing out on. Max and Dan had mixed up their masks – which was funny, admittedly, but _this_ funny?  
  
Lando’s gaze fell on Kimi, who was standing next to Lewis and who had crossed his arms in front of his chest. His eyebrows moved, if only by a millimetre.  
“I knew it would end like this,” the Fin commented, in his monotone voice, and he shot Lewis a glance.  
“You tell them?”

“Why the fuss?” Lando asked George, who was watching with big eyes when Lewis made their way over to where Dan was standing. He caught the words the world champion was mumbling to himself or maybe to Kimi on his way.  
“I wonder what they come up with this time.”  
  
“The fuss?” George repeated, one hand on his hip, his whole voice dripping in disbelief.  
“Man, are you dumb?”  
“Huh?” Lando asked, eyes locked on the leo-printed mask on Max Verstappen’s face.  
George let out a low groan, shaking his head, “Has no one told you they’re shagging?”

**Author's Note:**

> a quick story for my dearest Anni, inspired by the picture of these two arriving to the track last weekend.  
> I hope you've liked this one and if you did (or didn't), let me know in the comments.
> 
> Kudos would be very appreciated, as always.  
> xx Johanna


End file.
